I have a program that will convert MP3's to WMa files.. Before I set about my 2.5 gig of MP3's I decided to have a look at this WMA format because I seem to remember something about copy protection.. And sure enough I couldnt burn the few files that I had made into WMA files to CD's using Nero. Is there a way to convert files back to MP3 so I can burn them? And what about MP3Pro? What applications can I get to make them and can they be put on CD's?

dbpoweAMP will convert to and from wma files and a lot of others too. get it here http://admin.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm but if you get the plugin for nero you can burn wma files with it.

And as for mp3pro there is a nero plugin for that too. But DONT convert files from wma, mp3 or any other format to mp3pro cuz when u burn them to cd thay sound crap. You can rip an original to mp3pro and it's great but in my humble opinion when u convert to it from another format they sound crap but it's just my opinion try it and make your own mind up

OK, I downloaded DBPowerAMP and it works a treat, but I'm worried about the protected option of the WMA files. Will it be set to off by default or is there a similar option for MP3's that could make them protected when I convert them.

Don't encode to WMA. in my humble opinion I think WMA is a big crap ! i say that because many programs refuse to work with wma it's much harder to decode than MP3 and it doesn´t sound so good as mp3 does at most of the bitrates. if you want quality conpressed audio move to LAME 3.91

And the speed ??? have you tested? i mean have you compared the time it takes to encode to wma/mp3 using the same track and quality settings(Kb/s)? and have i heard the final result mp3/wma? i think that mp3 is faster and sounds better LAME rules!!